Slidable inner jaw closed end wrench



July 7, 1956 J. CULLEN SLIDABLE INNER JAW CLOSED END WRENCH Filed Jan. 17, 1955 IN V EN TOR. J OSEPA/ C0445 United States. Patent "ice SLIDABLE INNER JAW CLOSED END WRENCH Joseph Cullen, Detroit, Mich.

Application January 17, 1955, Serial No. 482,182

2 Claims. (Cl. 81-174) This invention relates to improvements in closed end wrenches.

The primary object of the invention is to provide an improved, rugged, economical to manufacture closed end wrench that is readily adjusted to accommodate it to a reasonable range of sizes of nuts, bolts and studs.

A further object of the invention is to provide a closed end wrench including a movable nut, stud or bolt head engaging jaw guided slidably within the closed end wrench head on a plurality of pins extending through the base of the wrench head for engagement with an adjusting nut threaded on the upper threaded end of the wrench handle, the said wrench including spring means resiliently maintaining the nut, stud or bolt head engaging jaw in the most open position permitted by said adjusting nut.

Other objects of the invent-ion will become apparent by reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of a closed end wrench embodying the invention with the movable nut, stud or bolt head engaging jaw thereof substantially fully open, the particular wrench illustrative of the invention engaging the maximum size nut, stud or bolt head it was designed to accommodate.

Fig. 2 is an elevational view similar to Fig. 1 except that portions have been broken away to more fully illustrate the invent-ion and that the movable jaw has been closed against a nut, stud or bolt of considerably less size than the maximum size the wrench will accommodate.

Fig. 3 is a vertical sectional view taken on the line 33 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Fig. 5 is a cross sectional view taken on the line 5- of Fig. 2 looking in the direction indicated by the arrows.

Referring now to the drawing wherein like numerals refer to like and corresponding parts throughout the several views, the closed end wrench illustrating the invention comprises a handle 11 having a closed end 12 thereon formed with an aperture 13 therein. The inner faces 140 of the sides 14 of the closed end 12 and the inner faces 150 of its outer end 15 are formed to four sides of a hexagonal of a size to receive the maximum size nut 50 to which the wrench will accommodate itself, the sides 14 being suflicieutly long to receive in slidable relationship a movable jaw block 16 having its faces 160 formed in a V-shape to the other two sides of a hexagonal of a size to conform to the maximum size nut 50 that can be accommodated by the closed end 12 of the said wrench 10.

The wrench handle 11 is threaded at 17 immediately below the closed end 12, and the bottom 18 of the closed end 12 is provided with a pair of bores 19 there'through parallel to the threaded end 17 of the handle 11. The said threaded end 17 of the handle 11 is milled or otherwise grooved to provide guides 20 for adjusting pins 21 which extend from the guides 20 through the bores 19 in the bottom 18 of the closed end 12 into bores 22 provided in the bottom of the movable jaw block 16. The bores 19 and 22 are in alignment and are so located that the adjusting pins 21 ride freely in the guides 20. A knurled cylindrical adjusting nut 23 is threaded onto the threaded end 17 of the handle 11, which nut 23 is provided with an annular recess 230 at the top thereof to receive the lower ends of the adjusting pins 21.

The center of the top of the handle 11 and the center of the bottom of the movable jaw block 16 are provided with aligned bores at 24 and 25 respectively to accommodate a tension spring 26 which is anchored at its opposite ends in the said bores 24 and 25 by such suitable means as transverse pins 240 and 250 respectively. The tension spring 26 serves to maintain the movable jaw block 16 in the farthest retracted position permitted by the adjusting pins 21 and the adjusting nut 23, and also serves to cause the movable jaw block 16 and adjusting pins 21 to follow the adjusting nut 23 when turned counterclockwise to retract the movable jaw block 16 to accommodate the closed end wrench 10 to any size nut, stud or bolt within the range of the wrench.

To engage a nut, belt or stud of any size within the range of the wrench, the movable jaw block 16 is retracted sufficiently to permit the closed end 12 of the wrench 10 to be positioned thereover, and then the adjusting nut is turned clockwise to advance the faces 160 of the movable jaw block 16 into engagement with the nut, bolt or stud 50 as shown in Fig. 1 or 500 as shown in Fig. 3, in both instances with the said nut, bolt or stud 50 or 500 also disposed against the inner faces of the outer end 15 of the closed end 12.

The invention thus provides an efiicient and positive gripping readily adjustable closed end wrench for engaging and turning such items as hexagonal nuts, bolts and studs. It should be understood that closed end 12 and movable jaw block 16 of wrenches embodying the invention may be formed to any size and to engage other shapes of items, and, when so formed, the closed end wrenches will function with equal facility to the wrench 10 disclosed herein for illustrative purposes.

Although but a single embodiment of the invention has been disclosed and described herein, it will be obvious that many changes may be made in the size, shape, arrangement and detail of the various elements of the invention without departing from the spirit and scope thereof as defined by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A closed end wrench including a handle and a slidable jaw block within the closed end thereof, means for moving said jaw block to engage an item over which the closed wrench end is positioned comprising a pair of pins slidably disposed through the said closed end adjacent said handle with one end thereof positioned in said jaw block, an adjusting nut threaded on said handle having an annular cup formed in the end thereof facing said closed end into which the other end of said pins are positioned, and spring means connected to said slidable jaw block and said wrench handle constantly urging said jaw block against said pins and said pins against the base of said annular cup.

2. A closed end wrench including a handle and a slidable jaw block within the closed end thereof, means for moving said jaw block to engage an item over which the closed wrench end is positioned comprising a pair of pins telescoped through the said closed end adjacent said handle with one end of said pins positioned in said jaw block, an adjusting nut threaded on said handle having an annular cup formed in the end thereof facing the said closed end into which the other end of said pins are positioned, guides for said pins formed in the threaded Patented July 17, 1956' 3 portion of said handle, and spring means connected to 648, said slidable jaw block and said wrench handle constantly 1,697,764 urging the jaw block toward its retracted position and said 1,924,389 pins against the base of said annular cup. 2,587,263

References Cited in the file of this patent 9 4 UNITED STATES PATENTS 83 473,617 Dunlap Apr. 26, 1892 4 Wolfe Apr. 24, 1900 Heinz Jan. 1, 1929 Baash et a1 Aug. 29, 1933 Wortelmann Feb. 26, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS Germany Sept. 16, 1879 Great Britain of 1893 

